by Jason Joyner | Jun 18, 2012 | Blog, Jesus, Mission Monday, missional, organic church, Outreach Saga, parks are cool
Two down. Not sure how many more to go.
So far this is a three week series. In the first post I explained how a group of friends in Christ decided to do church a little differently. Last Monday I told the story how we didn’t even get the right date on our invitations, but God showed up anyway. Also some people.
We decided last week to meet again at this local park. It is in the midst of a low-income housing area, with over one hundred apartment complexes. In our city it is known as a rougher area of town. The thing we found last week is that people were receptive to us coming and spending time with them.
After some preparation and more invitations (with the right date, thank you very much) we showed up again on Sunday morning. The first gentleman I talked to asked what denomination we were with.
“Well, we’re just a home church trying to do something a little different.”
We had another good day. People came back from last week. New people showed up. We prayed for people, made arrangements to help one person move, and ran out of hamburgers.
The takeaway point for me was one woman saying, “Our complex needs this. Thank you for making a little community time together.”
There are many people out there who are proponents of home church who say it is the only way to do things. I’m not in that camp, but I think our modern American lifestyle does not allow for true coming together as neighbors. We don’t sit on the front porch anymore – we huddle in our backyards behind privacy fencing. We don’t go to the local church – we drive 30 miles to the one that “makes us feel good” and “meets our needs.”
I know we’ve only done this twice, and I can’t make too many generalizations from just a couple of events. However, it seems that people are hungry to find some grace out there, and I would suggest that the followers of Jesus are the ones to bring it.
A minister friend of mine, Tom Brock, says something to this effect: “Belong, Believe, Behave.” We need to make people feel that they belong, that they are welcome and that they are worthy. If we help them belong, then they will come to believe. Out of that, they will learn to behave. So many of these folks have gone to church, sought after God, and have been rejected.
It grieves my heart.
We’re on a little adventure right now. I know we’re going to that park again on Sunday, and after that we don’t know. I’m not sharing this because I have some secret or that we’re doing things “the right way.”
We’re doing things one way, and God is showing up. It is refreshing. It brings life. I hope to share a little of what we’re learning here is all.
And if you’re bored on Sunday, drop me a line. I know a cool place to hang out.
—
by Jason Joyner | Jun 18, 2012 | Blog, Jesus, Mission Monday, missional, organic church, Outreach Saga, parks are cool
Two down. Not sure how many more to go.
So far this is a three week series. In the first post I explained how a group of friends in Christ decided to do church a little differently. Last Monday I told the story how we didn’t even get the right date on our invitations, but God showed up anyway. Also some people.
We decided last week to meet again at this local park. It is in the midst of a low-income housing area, with over one hundred apartment complexes. In our city it is known as a rougher area of town. The thing we found last week is that people were receptive to us coming and spending time with them.
After some preparation and more invitations (with the right date, thank you very much) we showed up again on Sunday morning. The first gentleman I talked to asked what denomination we were with.
“Well, we’re just a home church trying to do something a little different.”
We had another good day. People came back from last week. New people showed up. We prayed for people, made arrangements to help one person move, and ran out of hamburgers.
The takeaway point for me was one woman saying, “Our complex needs this. Thank you for making a little community time together.”
There are many people out there who are proponents of home church who say it is the only way to do things. I’m not in that camp, but I think our modern American lifestyle does not allow for true coming together as neighbors. We don’t sit on the front porch anymore – we huddle in our backyards behind privacy fencing. We don’t go to the local church – we drive 30 miles to the one that “makes us feel good” and “meets our needs.”
I know we’ve only done this twice, and I can’t make too many generalizations from just a couple of events. However, it seems that people are hungry to find some grace out there, and I would suggest that the followers of Jesus are the ones to bring it.
A minister friend of mine, Tom Brock, says something to this effect: “Belong, Believe, Behave.” We need to make people feel that they belong, that they are welcome and that they are worthy. If we help them belong, then they will come to believe. Out of that, they will learn to behave. So many of these folks have gone to church, sought after God, and have been rejected.
It grieves my heart.
We’re on a little adventure right now. I know we’re going to that park again on Sunday, and after that we don’t know. I’m not sharing this because I have some secret or that we’re doing things “the right way.”
We’re doing things one way, and God is showing up. It is refreshing. It brings life. I hope to share a little of what we’re learning here is all.
And if you’re bored on Sunday, drop me a line. I know a cool place to hang out.
—
by Jason Joyner | Jun 14, 2012 | Blog, details, fiction, soccer, writing craft, Writing Wednesday
|
| Patient in photo may differ in real life |
As a PA, I examine people all day long. I do a lot of physicals, and it can get routine. I have a little trick that helps me through the day.
When examining my patient, my back is to the garbage can. You know the little black tips on the ear light (otoscope for those medically inclined)? I like to toss them over my shoulder in a no-look shot. I miss more than my fair share, but the patient isn’t expecting it, and it usually makes them perk up a little, enhancing our interaction together.
Laughter is the best medicine, right?
Today I thought about some of the little touches I’m putting into my WIP. They’re the things that may not matter to others, but it keeps my interest in this project I’ve worked on for so long. They also may lead to story threads.
I’m a soccer fan, and I’m listening to the Euro2012 tournament in between patients. I had my heroine be a star player for her high school team (much better than I ever was). At first it was just a character detail from my background work.
Then it became a plot hinge.
It helped me introduce another character and the connection shared between her and my protagonist. I had no idea that it would turn out that way, but it fit perfectly.
 |
| Another tech for the dust bin of history… |
Another time I saw a magazine ad with the image of a man and woman resting on the beach, his arm around her from behind (the “spooning” position). I liked the picture, so I cut it out and kept it in my writing notebook for kicks and giggles. I didn’t know how I could work it into my story, but I didn’t forget it.
I recently hit a point where it made sense to put this set-up in, sans the beach. It isn’t important in the scheme of things, but it suggests I should listen to my gut whenever I notice details or come up with some character quirk. You never know when these ideas will play out.
Too bad I lost the memory in my old Palm Pilot (remember those?) where I had so many ideas stashed.
—
by Jason Joyner | Jun 14, 2012 | Blog, details, fiction, soccer, writing craft, Writing Wednesday
|
| Patient in photo may differ in real life |
As a PA, I examine people all day long. I do a lot of physicals, and it can get routine. I have a little trick that helps me through the day.
When examining my patient, my back is to the garbage can. You know the little black tips on the ear light (otoscope for those medically inclined)? I like to toss them over my shoulder in a no-look shot. I miss more than my fair share, but the patient isn’t expecting it, and it usually makes them perk up a little, enhancing our interaction together.
Laughter is the best medicine, right?
Today I thought about some of the little touches I’m putting into my WIP. They’re the things that may not matter to others, but it keeps my interest in this project I’ve worked on for so long. They also may lead to story threads.
I’m a soccer fan, and I’m listening to the Euro2012 tournament in between patients. I had my heroine be a star player for her high school team (much better than I ever was). At first it was just a character detail from my background work.
Then it became a plot hinge.
It helped me introduce another character and the connection shared between her and my protagonist. I had no idea that it would turn out that way, but it fit perfectly.
|
| Another tech for the dust bin of history… |
Another time I saw a magazine ad with the image of a man and woman resting on the beach, his arm around her from behind (the “spooning” position). I liked the picture, so I cut it out and kept it in my writing notebook for kicks and giggles. I didn’t know how I could work it into my story, but I didn’t forget it.
I recently hit a point where it made sense to put this set-up in, sans the beach. It isn’t important in the scheme of things, but it suggests I should listen to my gut whenever I notice details or come up with some character quirk. You never know when these ideas will play out.
Too bad I lost the memory in my old Palm Pilot (remember those?) where I had so many ideas stashed.
—
by Jason Joyner | Jun 12, 2012 | Blog, Jesus, Mission Monday, missional, organic church, Outreach Saga, who needs the right date anyway
Putting the wrong date on an invitation is usually a bad thing.
Last week I told how our home group was planning to meet in a local park, next to a low-income apartment complex. We decided to have a free BBQ, but we didn’t want to do a “bait-and-switch,” so on the flyers we delivered to every apartment we told them we’re inviting them to hang out with us and talk about Jesus. They knew up front what we were doing. We planned it for Sunday morning from 11-1.
The flyers went out on Thursday, June 7. We talked, planned, and most of all prayed. We got burgers, watermelon, chips, and cookies together and got together early to prepare and wait for people to come.
We waited.
Finally we talked to one guy. We told him we put out flyers. “Oh, the ones that say ‘June 6’ with no day of the week on them?”
Yes, that would be us.
I’m certain the computer automatically put the date of when it was done. So we now had 50+ apartments, 100 burgers, and 0 people.
We decided we’d better go knocking.
We went around to each complex again, inviting people to come. My wife and I knocked on the door of one woman who was fairly sick and couldn’t come out into the windy cold weather. We said we’d bring her a plate of food. My wife nominated me since I’m medical and the woman was visibly ill. I brought her a plate and got visiting with her. It turns out I had something left over from my mom that was used twice and would be a good help to this new friend. She was very excited to get something that would help her in her illness, and I was excited to give her this device after holding onto it for several years.
I came back to the park and we had several people come and go. I think we ended up with around 20 adults stopping by, with many kids as well. The cool thing about this is it was a good number for us to start with. Between our group of 9 adults, we got to talk to everyone who came for at least a few minutes. I got to meet a couple of guys who were happy to hang out. They liked that people gathered at this park to spend time with them. I talked with them, learned about some of their troubles and their lives. I never had to force it, but I was able to share about Jesus with them.
Everyone in our group had similar stories. It was an amazing time. We wrapped up and I think we all were thinking, “Why hadn’t we done this before?” It was so simple. We served people. We treated them with respect and listened to them. One of our group had prepared a talk, but it didn’t work out.
We hadn’t even decided what we were going to do next week, but we had such a good time we realized we should go back again and build some relationship. We might move to other parks during the summer, but for this week we’ll take the next step. Even though the wrong date could have torpedoed our plans and our resolve, God was good to give us what we could handle.
If you have questions about what we are doing or how things went, I’d be happy to discuss it. We’ll see what the future holds.
—
